Qualcosa di diabolico

SOMETHING EVIL was one of Steven Spielberg's last made-for-TV efforts before he hit the big time with the big screen release JAWS. The film stars Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin as a happily married couple who unwittingly put their lives and the lives of their two young children into great danger when they move into a Pennsylvania farmhouse that later turns out to be inhabited by evil spirits. Johnnie Whitaker(of FAMILY AFFAIR fame) co-stars as the oldest child.

Had it been made by anyone else but Spielberg, SOMETHING EVIL would be completely forgotten today. Though it came before the lamentable THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, haunted house thrillers were still pretty old hat by the time this TV-made effort came along. Spielberg injects as much life as possible into the deadly dull material, and the great cast does their usual thorough job, but no one can completely disguise the fact that this is second rate stuff. For a more rewarding look at work from Spielberg's early TV years, see the superior DUEL(1971) starring Dennis Weaver.

I know that The Possession Of Joel Delany (1972) is often cited as a possible cinematic influence on Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), but I had never seen this little gem until recently. The finale has little Johnny Whitaker (yes, from Family Affair) possessed by a "devil" yelling weird demonic gibberish in a surprisingly creepy and effective vocal track and attacking his mother (Sandy Dennis) as objects fly around the room. The devil is driven out by the chanting words of love from mom. It's a brief scene that might elicit giggles from some, but it's strange how similar some scenes in The Exorcist would play out nearly two years later.

I remember watching this movie as a child and it scared the crap out of me.

For years I couldn't look in a dark window without seeing those glowing yellow eyes. After I became an adult I waited patiently for years for this movie to show up on late night TV so I could watch it again and see what scared me so much. It never happened, the movie seemed to have disappeared from the face of the planet. A few weeks ago I ran across a pirated copy of this movie and bought it, My wife still can't understand why I paid almost 30 dollars for a old VHS tape. We watched it last night and of course it was no where near as scary now as it seemed to an 8 year old almost 32 years ago. That being said, I found it to be quite a watchable movie that held my interest despite moving a somewhat slow pace. And the twist at the end caught me totally off guard. Overall I would give this movie a thumbs up especially when comparing it to other movies of its genre and era. If you run across a copy have a look.

A married couple and their two children move into an old country estate in rural Pennsylvania. The father spends most of his time working in New York City, but his wife stays home tending to the kids and coming up with various art designs. It isn't long before she's plagued by bizarre happenings, and while her husband is disbelieving, she comes to the conclusion that a devil is haunting the estate.

This TV movie was Steven Spielberg's follow-up to "Duel". While nowhere near that film's level, it is a reasonably effective little haunting yarn. The late Sandy Dennis carries the picture with her frantic, on edge performance. Ralph Bellamy of "Rosemary's Baby" is on the right side of the occult this time as a friendly neighbor who supplies Dennis with info on devils and protection from evil. The haunting is predominately low-key, though it occasionally moves into more pronounced territory when attacking others and even causing a fatal car accident. The creepiest scenes involve the sounds of a baby crying in the still country night and Dennis desperately trying to find out where the cries are emanating from. What she eventually finds makes for a rather disturbing visual.

Less unnerving and more cheesy is a scene where Sandy is flipping out on her son. The aftermath doesn't hit as hard as Spielberg would like it too because of this, but Sandy's performance does lessen the damage. Her husband doesn't seem to think much of it and heads back to New York for more work on the annoying commercial he's been preoccupied with. All of this leads up to a fun, if somewhat limp ending. The climactic surprise is telegraphed well in advance.

As a whole, there's nothing particularly remarkable here, but it all works just fine. Still, I was hoping that "Something Evil" would be something truly special.

There were a lot of brilliant and spooky TV movies made in the seventies (Night Stalker etc),and it's a lost art now. This is, in fact, one of Spielberg's best films and is chilling. I saw it on a farm in the middle of nowhere, so the whole bit with the barn was terrifying. A reminder of what suggestion and the mind can conjure up without gruesome special effects and pointless noise. What was the horrible thing in the jam jar? What were the buzzing objects falling onto the windscreen of that car? Eerie stuff and brilliantly done. Also features a rare appearance by the unusual and authentic Sandy Dennis who died tragically and is sadly missed. Best scare is the demon eyes caught during the filming of a commercial at the haunted house.